The Training of a Shinobi
by Strumwulf
Summary: Naruto, Sakura and Hinata are pulled from the academy and assigned to Jounin Tetsuro Saotome. Follow the new team as they train and grow to become Shinobi of the Leaf. No pairings considered at this time. Corrected the editing on Chapters 1 and 3.
1. Chapter 1

The Training of a Shinobi Part 1 - Meeting the students

Disclaimer: Naruto and his friends belong to their creator. Tetsuro is my creation.

Tetsuro looked at the 3 children standing in front of him, Uzamaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura & Hyugga Hinata, and sighed. "Hello, children, I am Saotome Tetsuro. From this day forward, I'm your Jonin Commander and instructor."

Sakura tentatively raised her hand and asked, "Sensei, how is that possible, we haven't even graduated the academy."

"True, but the Hokage has expressed a concern about the quality of the recent graduates and has decided to implement a test program to see if a higher quality of shinobi can be trained." Tetsuro replied.

"Yes," shouted Naruto as he jumped into the air. "Jii-san knew I was too good for the academy, Hokage here I come."

"Baka," growled Sakura as she punched Naruto in the head. "Be more respectful to Hokage-sama."

"Please, don't fight," whispered Hinata as she pushed her forefingers together.

"Quiet, all of you." snapped Tetsuro as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. Tetsuro then pulled three hiate out of one his pouches and handed them out. "Here are you orders. By the order of Sandaime Hokage, the following personnel are advanced to the probationary rank of Genin and placed under the command of Jounin Saotome Tetsuro. You are hereby designated Team 9. Do you have questions?"

"Sensei, why us? Why not have Sasuke-kun in this kind of training?" Sakura asked. "Uchiha-san is actually too skilled to be considered for this stage of the project. Each of you has at least one fatal weakness. I am going to help your correct these deficiencies. Uzamaki, you have no theoretical knowledge, your taijutsu is ranked almost at the bottom of your class, and you still have problems with your basic jutsu." Tetsuro started to explain.

"Oh yeah, watch this. Oiroke no Jutsu." Naruto shouted as he changed into a naked blonde girl who appeared to be about 16 with whisps of smoke covering her breats and wrapping around her waist. "Very nice, Naruto." Tetsuro said as he walked around Naruto occasionally poking a body part with a senbon. "You've managed an improved version of the Henge. Henge is usually disrupted by touch. Now, change back or put some clothes on. You going to have to tell me later, how a kid your age managed to figure out how a girl looks without her clothes."

"How come it didn't work? Iruka-sensei passes out when I do this." Naruto whined as he shifted back to normal.

"Iruka has always been a bit a shy around the girls. Now, where was I? Oh, yes. Sakura, in way your the opposite of Naruto here. You know the basic kata and can perform the basic jutsu. While you have aced any written exam that you have been given, it has been noted you have practically no endurance and your strength levels are subpar for both your age and training."

"But if I do the exercises, I won't look cute for Sasuke-kun." Sakura whined. Tetsuro glared at Sakura, and she visibly quailed.

"We'll discuss that later. Hinata, your grades on taijutsu, ninjutsu, and basic academics indicate that you should be at the top of your class. But, whenever you have to perform in front of your class or during sparring, you hesitate and it gets worse from there."

"Sorry, sensei." Hinata said as she shrank into her coat.

"Don't apologize, girl. You've done nothing wrong yet. Now, that I've given my basic evaluation of you three based on the reports of your instructors, I'm to tell you what we are going to do. In two months, the acadamy is holding the graduation exams. You are going to all pass this exam. In between various missions. We will be training. Here are your first assignments. Naruto, teach Sakura and Hinata how to do your Oiroke no Jutsu. Sakura, go over all the basic theory with Naruto and make sure he knows it."

"Why do I have know that boring stuff? Why can't you just teach the cool jutsus?" interrupted Naruto.

"If you don't know how the basics work, how do you expect to learn the advanced techniques or properly develop new techniques. There are several areas of jutsus, where if you don't have the proper base knowledge, you'll not be able to learn how to use them, and Hinata work with Naruto on mastering the basic jutsus. Now to see where you actually are, I have a mission for you. The favorite cat of the Fire Lord's Wife has made its way back to Konoha again. You have until lunch to find it. It was last seen heading towards Nidaime's training ground. Hinata, your in command. Now go." Tetsuro said before he disappeared in a swirl of leaves.


	2. Chapter 2

Here is the basic info for my character Saotome Tetsuro

Konoha Ninja Registration Name: Saotome Tetsuo Rank: Special Jounin Speciality: Inflitration/Assassination Height: 5' 10"  
Weight: 150 lbs Appearance: Dark Brown hair with Red Highlights, Blue eyes. Slender muscular build Skill Rankings:  
Taijutsu - Standard Form - Chunin Leaf Soft Form - Jounin (Soft Form is similar in appearance to the Hyuga Gentle Fist. Instead of attacking and sealing tenketsu, this form attacks the soft points, nerve junctions and pressure points)  
Weapons - displays Chunin level skill with Kunai, shuriken, and short sword. Jounin level ranking with spike shuriken and throwing needles.  
Genjutsu - Chunin. Generally uses several B & C ranked genjutsu designed to distract opponents and disguise his appearance.  
Ninjutsu - Jounin. Knows several A - D ranked jutsu of Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind varieties. Special - qualified Medic-nin, expert at using and making poisons, expert at using non-chakra based disguises.  
Note: May have knowledge of and/or access to family techniques known as Umisenken and Yamisenken. Attacks similiar to what has been reported about said techniques have been reported by Tetsuo's instructor and commanders during missions, though no one has actually seen Tetsuo perform said attacks. This information is classified as a S-class secret by the order of Root and the Hokage.  
Instructor Evaluation: Tetsuo is one of the sneakiest genins I've ever meet. During our first meeting, he planted a small explosive tag on me without my knowledge. Do not let him spend any time alone with Umino Iruka. On a dare from Umino, Saotome inflitrated the Uchiha compound and planted several items, including explosive tags, in the Uchiha council room. Saotome is responsible for alerting the Hyuga to the Heir's kidnapping. He had infiltrated the estate at the time to set up another of his and Umino's practical jokes, and managed to avoid detection until he revealed himself to Hyuga Hisashi and Hizashi and informed of the Cloud-nins actions. Signed Ikari Gendo ANBU evaluation: Recruit into ANBU ASAP. Saotome has demonstrated the ability to blend into almost situation. He has successfully disguised himself as members of several other Hidden Villages, and samurai, and various civilians. He can learn to speak new languages within weeks, and various dialects within days, and duplicate accents almost as soon as he hears them. This ability combined with his disguise skills make him perfect for any long term infiltration missions as well as assassination. If you actually engage in direct combat with Saotome, exercise all caution. Even what appears to be a missed attack or a blocked attack, can be either lethal or crippling, due to his extensive use of poisons and pressure point attacks. This report classifed A-rank secret by order of ANBU.  
Genin Team: Umino Iruka (Chunin), Tendo Rei (Chunin, Inactive) 


	3. Chapter 3

The Training of a Shinobi Part 2 – Conversations

Disclaimer: Naruto and his friends belong to their creator. Tetsuro is my creation.

Tetsuro sat on a stump next to the river flowing through the old training ground, petting a large cat. Hinata, Naruto and Sakura were leaning against each other in a heap, trying to catch their breath. All of their clothes were torn and they were covered in mud and were severely scratched. Naruto was quickly recovering his breath and the scratches were fading quickly. Hinata had lost her coat somewhere, and was breathing deeply like a ninja recovering from a heavy bout of training, while Sakura was gasping for breathe and could barely sit up with the help of her teammates.

"So what went wrong? This was a basic locate and retrieve mission." Tetsuro asked. "Hinata, you go first."

"Ano, Sakura and I couldn't keep up with Naruto, and once we got seperated from each other, we had no way to coordinate getting back together."

"Interesting. Naruto, what do you think?"

"Uhm, what Hinata-chan said, Sensei." Naruto said.

"Very well, how about you, Sakura?"

Between breaths, Sakura gasped, "Didn't make plan or scout. Just charged in, by ourselves. No regard for others."

"Exactly, Sakura. You did not act as a team. Ninja do not operate alone. Even if a ninja is operating by himself in the field, he is still supported by other ninja in some manner." Tetsuro stated. "If you want to the lone hero, go be a Samurai. Anyway, I see I have a lot of work ahead of me. I'll be talking to each of you later today. Be here at sunrise tomorrow. Here's your pay for the mission. You're dismissed for the rest of the day."

With that Tetsuro disappeared with the cat, leaving a small bag behind on the stump.

Hokage's Office

"So what do you think of your students, Saotome." Sarutobi asked.

"They in pitful shape for their supposed level of training. Hinata is the best of the lot, but she cripples herself. The other two if put together, barely make a competent academy student, much less a genin. Still, I'll have them ready in time for the graduation exercises. You might want to have someone check out what's happening in the academy, Naruto and Sakura shouldn't have gotten this far with such glaring holes." Tetsuro answered.

"I have someone checking it out already. The quality of the recent graduates has dropped severally in the last few years, plus the number of genin reaching chunin status has been on a decline as well. Keep me informed of your progress." Sarutobi said dismissing Tetsuro with a wave.

A couple hours later, Sakura's Bedroom.

Sakura was brushing her hair, grumbling under her breath, "Stupid sensei, made me mess my chance to talk to Sasuke today. Ino-pig will get him, if I'm not there to stop her. Naruto better not screw this training up for us."

"You should be more concerned whether or not you'll pass the training, instead of worrying about what your teammates might do. You say that you want to go out with Uchiha-san, but what do you really know about him?" Tetsuro said from behind Sakura.

"Gah, sensei," Sakura screamed as she spun to face Tetsuro. "What do you mean, what do I know about Sasuke-kun?"

"Exactly what I asked. Now, tell me, Sakura." Commanded Tetsuro.

"Yes, sensei. Well, he's cute, and has the top ranking in our class. He rarely talks in class, that makes him so mysterious. I think he lives in the Uchiha district." Babbled Sakura.

"Humph, you need to do some information gathering, Sakura. In fact, one week from today, I want a report on all the information you can gather about the Uchiha Clan. I'm leaving you some profiles on some of Uchiha-san's female relatives, and is probably comparing you and the rest of the kunoichi in your class to. I've also talked to your mother, and she's agreed to make sure that you're eating properly at home. No more diets, I will not have you collasping because you decided to mistreat your body." Tetsuro said just before he vanished in a whirlwind of leaves.

Sakura opened one of the folders that her sensei left and quickly read the sheet inside. As she finished reading, Sakura collapsed to her knees with a stunned look. "His aunt was an ANBU commander. Iie, is that what Sasuke-kun is looking for in a girlfriend?" She asked herself.

At the same time in Naruto's Apartment

As Naruto fiddled with his stove to keep the gas flowing so he could boil some water for ramen, he suddenly spun around when he felt a presence in the apartment. "Gah, sensei. What are you doing here? You want some ramen?" Naruto blurted out.

"I came to talk you, Naruto. Thank you for the offer, but I ate earlier." Tetsuro replied.

"Ahh, ok. What do ya, want to talk about?" Naruto said.

"You've said often that you want to be Hokage. Have you given any thought on how you're going to get there?" inquired Tetsuro.

"How I'm going to there?" asked Naruto with a confused look on his face.

"It's good to have a goal, Naruto, but if you don't know how you are going to reach it you'll never get there. Do you know what is needed to become a genin?" Tetsuro added.

"You have to pass the academy, sensei!" Naruto grumbled.

"And what does that require?" prompted Tetsuro.

"Well, there is the written test which sucks, because I can't read half the kanji. Then we have the sparring, which I do all right in, but Sasuke-teme always does better in, and then we have the jutsu test, which sucks because they always have me do bushins, which I can't do."

"At least you've paid that much attention. You and your teammates will work on all of these things. Now, while we are doing this training, no pranks. You do not need that kind of attention at this point. I'm also leaving a folder with you. In it is a mission request, I want you to plan how to accomplish the mission with a single genin team. In two weeks, give me your plan." Tetsuro ordered as he faded from view.

Meanwhile, at the Hyuuga Compound

Hinata was putting away her bath items, when the kunai flew past her head cutting several strands of hair before embedding itself in the wall. With a quick hand sign and a burst of chakra, Hinata activated her bloodline and saw her opponent through the door behind. She ducked, then charged her opponent as a second kunai came through the paper panels in the door. As she broke through the door, she saw that her opponent was the same Cloud-nin that had attempted to kidnap her several years ago.

"You!" Hinata screamed as she started the Hakke Rokujuyon Sho attack, "You will not touch my family again!"

Just as Hinata was about half through the attack, her opponent change appearance to that of her mother and Hinata stopped her attack. Taking advantage of the opening Hinata had created, her opponent sliced opened Hinata's throat.

Gasping out, "Why, Mother?" Hinata fell into darkness.

Hinata suddenly opened her eyes and gasped for air. She looked around and saw that she was in the family infirmary and her new sensei sitting beside her.

"Sensei, the Cloud-nin? Where is he? Where's mother? Why am I alive?" Hinata asked as she looked frantically around her.

"Your mother is with your father. As for the Cloud-nin, he was never here. I put you under a genjutsu to test your skills. You have given me an interesting problem, Hinata-chan. Skillwise, you are ready to graduate from the Academy and serve on a genin team. Mentally, you would probably get you and your team killed, if you had mission outside of Konohagakure. Shinobi do not fight fair, we do not follow rules of war or of honor, it is literally anything-goes in a fight. I've decided to give you tomorrow off. I want you to decide if you still want to be a shinobi, after what I've shown you. Think about if you can you live with doing what is necessary to complete your mission? Can you accept that there will come a time, that you will have to sacrifice your friends, family, lovers, and complete strangers to finish what you have been ordered to do? If you're going to be a shinobi, make sure you are doing it for yourself. Do not let other people make this decision for you? For now, sleep," said Tetsuro as he tapped several pressure points. With that Hinata fell into a deep sleep.

As Tetsuro walked out of the infirmary, he was stopped by Hiashi.

"What did you do to my daughter, Saotome?"

"I tested my student, Hyuuga-sama. I recommend you and her mother spend some time with her tomorrow. It's not everyday, one is killed by their mother. Now, I need to leave and get ready to train my other students. Good evening." said Tetsuro as he gave a polite bow, then walked away.

Hiashi watched as Tetsuro made his way out of the Hyuuga compound, then made his way to his eldest daughter's side and sat down next to her. He gently brushed her hair away from her face. "My daughter, I don't know whether to pity you for the trails that will come your way, or be happy that you have a sensei that may be able to teach you what I can not. Know that I'll be proud of you, whatever you do, even if I can not show you." With that, Hiashi kissed Hinata's forehead, and silently slipped out of the room.


End file.
